


For Life

by Kanzen



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: F/M, i guess vague ocs, i mean like, its diavals backstory, which we dont actually know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-02-26 13:38:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2653991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kanzen/pseuds/Kanzen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maleficent gets a bit curious about Diavals past and doesnt see the harm in asking.  However he is a bit hesitant at first. As time passes and the two get closer though he decides to share.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Life

Maleficent rested her head in her hand and shook it.  Peeking open an eye she saw Diaval still trying to pick a fight with some poor common forest animal.  He had his chest puffed out and hopped towards the deer that was hardly intimidated by the squawking raven.  The deer prodded Diaval in the chest, trying to get a big sniff of him, and Diaval back flew above the animal and chased it out of sight.  When he came back Maleficent only raised an eyebrow, to which he puffed his feathery chest and gave a small chirp.  She sighed.  That was the fourth time this week.

It wasn’t until a few days later Maleficent decided to question him about his recent strange behavior.  He had spent almost half the day flying off and returning to the broken tower with sticks.  She had watched him for a while, trying to figure out what exactly he was doing, but when it only seemed like he was forming a small pile of leaves, sticks, and some fur patches she intervened.

“Diaval.”  She called when he came back next.  He bounced a bit and looked at her with a slightly tilted head.  She gestured to the pile on the edge next to him.  “What exactly are you doing?”

He looked at the small pile for a moment then poked at it a bit before looking back at Maleficent with ruffled feathers.  She sighed and surrounded him with gold magic.  Used to the transformations by now he had figured out how to land properly and when he was human he was sitting on the edge, cross legged, looking at her almost offended.

“What’s wrong with it Mistress?”

“I just don’t understand what you are trying to accomplish.”

He frowned and stared at the pile.  After a moment he knocked them off, letting them fall to the ground far below.  “Nothing of importance Mistress.”  

Maleficent sighed, that was another thing.  His mood swings.  He’d be his normal, obnoxious, and vain self one moment, then snippy, or overly cautious of misplacing a feather.  Somewhere in the near distance another raven called out.  Both Maleficent and Diaval snapped their heads in the direction.  Diaval tilted his head to one side, then the other, listening for another squawk, Maleficent only watched him.  There was a small chorus of raven talk and Diaval rolled his shoulders, feeling like scratching off his own skin.

“Diaval.”  She watched his fingers twitch anxiously.

“Yes Mistress?”  He slightly turned his head to her, eyes still in the direction of the other ravens.

“Explain to me why you are acting such.”

“It’s really of no worry Mistress..”  He finally turned to look at her as she crossed her arms.

“Diaval.”  She warned.  He sighed in defeat and pushed his bangs back.

“You see Mistress,” he said after a long pause, “It’s mating season for us ravens, I suppose I have been a bit on edge.”

“And the twig pile?”

“Old habit.”

She nodded once, satisfied with his answers.  He looked again at the ravens that had once again started conversation.  He knew very well what was happening.  Two males were trying to court a female.  It came as no surprise to him when two black dots in the distance rose high and performed aerial maneuvers.  Maleficent noticed the way he couldn’t sit still and walked up to him.  She leaned against the tower a few feet from him and watched the birds in the distance.

“Do you wish to join them?”  He turned to face her.

“Pardon?”

“I will not prevent you from your customs.  If you wish to leave for a short while for the occasion, I will permit it.  If I need you I will call for you.”  She explained her terms but he only smiled sweetly and shook his head slowly.

“That is kind of you Mistress, but I have no need to mate.  Ravens typically only have one mate in their lives.”  He got off the ledge and gathered what nuts and berries they had for a meal.

“Oh?  And you have yours?”  She never took much time to learn about his personal life but he had been with her for over a year with many more to come and it was better than being strangers.  Diaval hesitated.

“I have mated, yes.”  He chose his words slowly, carefully.  Again she nodded, deciding that was enough prying into his life for a while.  Perhaps one day I shall meet his mate and hatchlings, she thought briefly.

  
  


It was years later when the topic was brought up again.  Diaval was playing with a toddler Aurora and when the three oversized pixies came outside he flew out of sight, back to Maleficents side.  Once at the Moor she struck conversation with the again turned human Diaval.

“You are quite good at that.”  She admitted.  She was by no means near as good with children.  She knew that he sought out food when the incompetent pixies couldn’t care for Aurora, and he played with her as she grew, and was overall fond of the beastie.

“I’ve had practice,” he chuckled. “not with humans, granted, but it’s not all different.  Food, sleep, burning energy.  Just the little things are different.”

“How so?”

“Babies drink milk, for instance, and young hatchlings get regurgitated food. Children

have to learn to walk while hatchlings learn to fly.  However,” he paused for a moment, “I believe learning to fly is a bit more dangerous.”

The wingless faerie nodded in agreement.  While learning to fly she had often fell, although her parents would always catch her and set her right, and while Aurora had fallen often as well, the damage done from flying dozens of feet off the ground were a bit more drastic.  

“It’s even harder when you have more than one,” he continued, “they all want to learn at once, but you can only keep an eye on one or two at a time.”  That rose a question in Maleficents mind, and she didn’t see any harm in asking.

“How many children do you have?”

Diaval bit his lip and his stepped faltered.  He didn’t reply until he was certain his voice wouldn’t fail him.

“You’re awfully curious today Mistress, have my dashing looks finally gotten to you?”  He teased, trying to avoid the topic.  She only scoffed.

“If you don’t wish to talk about it, only say so.”  He bowed his head to her.

“Thank you Mistress.”

They were silent back to the tower.  Diaval wanted to tell her, he really did.  It was just, hard.  He had never told anyone before.  All the other ravens could just tell.  He hated the way they looked at him, like he had a disease, and now that he was Maleficents servant, they could sense the magic in him and avoided him completely.  It wasn’t until she was preparing for bed that Diaval spoke.

“I had four hatchlings.  They’re all dead now.  Along with my mate.”  Maleficent slowly turned to look at him and he almost flinched.  She had that look in her eyes, the kind she occasionally got when looking at Aurora.  The kind that meant she blamed herself.  Shit, now he had to explain himself, he couldn’t leave the conversation having her think it was her fault.  That through one of the side effects of her magic, a longer lifespan than any other raven, he had missed seeing his hatchlings grow or that they had died naturally. He couldn’t let her think it was her fault when really it was his.

“My mate, Branwen, and I were teaching them to fly.  We got caught up in it and didn’t hear the dogs.”  Her eyes softened when he explained, pointing to the scar around his eye, then to those on his chest.  “Their deaths were fast, they were far too small to be considered a good meal.  Branwen however…”

He was sitting on the tower edge now, near the nest he had made in his new home.  Maleficent stared at him across the way and tried to lighten his mood.

“What was she like?”

A small smile came across Diavals lips and he laughed a bit.  “Oh she was a reckless thing!  Always wanting to fly out in unknown lands until her wings burned and begged for rest.  Imagine my surprise when she was the one wanting to settle down.  Of course I agreed, being the wonderful raven that I am I went along with most of her plans, or lack there of.”  He paused, the smile fading.  “She was a great Mother.  I could tell at first she wanted to fly away, but as soon as the little’ns hatched they were all she cared about.”

He didn’t notice that something wet was falling from his eyes, ravens didnt cry.  He wouldn’t know what was happening even if he was paying attention to the present, instead of lost in the past.  He also didn’t notice Maleficent come closer to him in an awkward attempt to comfort him.

“They were all so pretty too.  Branwen, my boys, and my girl.  I think, even if she had lived, she wouldn’t have been the same.”  He shuddered, thinking about all the blood, the way that the hatchlings couldn’t fly away and cawed for help.  But try as they might, neither parent could get there in time.  Then the dogs had gotten them.  After one hell of a struggle Diaval had gotten away but when he saw Branwen wasn’t with him he had gone back.  Nothing was there except the four carcesses of his hatchlings and the bloody feather remains of his mate.

Maleficent wanted to comfort her crying companion, she just didn’t know what to do.  She had lived so long in pure hatred that she couldn’t recall how to help something other than the trees.  So instead she tried making him laugh.

“Now who’s the talkative one tonight?”  She gently placed the back of her hand on his forehead.  “Surely you must be under a spell of endless chatter.  Not by my magic of course.  I hear enough of your squaking as it is.”  He smiled when she pulled her hand away, thankful for a topic changer.

“Nonsense, you love listening to me!  Otherwise you would talk more to hear me less.”

“Why would I speak when there is nothing to say?”  She retorted.

“There is always something that could be said.”

“The only thing to be said now is how it is time to sleep.”

“I suppose it is.”  He frowned as he noticed his face was cold.  Wiping at it he realized his cheeks were yet.  His frown deepened at the water now on his hand and he looked at his Mistress for an explanation.  She only waved a golden laced hand at him and he turned into a raven once more.

  
  


Aurora was Queen of both the Moors and her fathers kingdom.  She had many advisors to help her the first couple of years, and had to undergo years worth of training on how to present herself.  She always turned to Maleficent for advice and the faerie was happy to help, although it wasn’t long until she left the Moors rule entirely to the blonde.

It had taken months to get used to having wings again and Diaval happily flew with her, helping her gain strength in the old muscles and even practicing tricks for no purpose other than the thrill of air rushing through feathers.  The two were chasing each other, performing dips and swoops, though not really trying to catch one another.  When the sun was almost completely set and their wings grew too tired they landed on Maleficents childhood tree home, which since reclaiming her wings she had moved back into, along with Diaval.  She had long since thought his debt to her repaid but he insisted, he had said for life, and where else would he go.  No, he was much better suited by her side.  So she allowed it.

With warm food in both of their stomachs Maleficent turned her friend into his human form, only to listen to him talk before they decided to sleep.  She was surprised however when he shuffled nervously and wouldn’t look at her.  

“Mi...Mistress?”  She looked up at his stuttering and noticed pink on his face.  What had gotten into the silly bird now?

“Yes Diaval?”

Again he shifted and hesitated.

“Would you permit me to um...preen your wings?  A few have gotten out of place.”  Now was Maleficents turn to hesitate.  She was well aware that preening anothers wings was an intimate experience.  She could tell in the way that he glared at the occasional bird couple they passed fixing each others feathers.  She could also feel it, her wings twitched at the thought and she just knew.  But...she wasn’t used to doing it herself and the help would be appreciated.

She turned around so her back was to him and spread her wings a bit.  Diaval took a deep breath and gently pet a feather.  She tensed, not use to nice touches on her wings.  He waited until she was relaxed again and gently moved a feather back in place.  He pet the area softly and she relaxed significantly.  She reminded herself that this was Diaval, and she trusted him.  They had spent over 18 years together.  They were silent as he fixed the few misplaced feathers, smoothed them into place, and braided her hair.  She felt as though she should offer to fix his also, but he was a human at the moment.  Maybe another night.

He continued to pet her wings, not paying attention though, just petting lost in thought.  

“Diaval?”

He stopped but didn’t pull away.

“Yes Mistress?”

“Isn’t this a ritual mates do nightly.”

“Yes it is Mistress.”

“I thought you said ravens have only one mate in their lives.”

He chuckled and resumed petting her wings.

“I said most Mistress.”


End file.
